Word Wide Open: The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) - 1/24/21

First Reading (Jonah 3:1-5, 10)

A reading from the Book of Jonah.

The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:

“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,

and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”

So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,

according to the LORD’S bidding.

Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;

it took three days to go through it.

Jonah began his journey through the city,

and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,

“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “

when the people of Nineveh believed God;

they proclaimed a fast

and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,

he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;

he did not carry it out.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How can we preach God's word to others in a charitable way? Why does God show mercy in this reading?


Second Reading (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.

I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.

From now on, let those having wives act as not having them,

those weeping as not weeping,

those rejoicing as not rejoicing,

those buying as not owning, 

those using the world as not using it fully.

For the world in its present form is passing away.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What does it mean that the world is passing away? 

Gospel (Mark 1:14-20)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

After John had been arrested,

Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:

“This is the time of fulfillment.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,

he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;

they were fishermen.

Jesus said to them,

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.

He walked along a little farther

and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.

They too were in a boat mending their nets.

Then he called them.

So they left their father Zebedee in the boat

along with the hired men and followed him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? Why do these men follow Jesus so quickly? What does it mean to be a fisher of men? What do we have to leave behind in order to follow Christ?